The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-03-22
OLIVE CULTURE.
what Major w. p. Coaper Has ." Say ON
the subject.

what Major W. p. Coaper Has o" Say os
the subject.
Major w. p. Couper, the Chief En-
gineer of the Florida Southern Railway
and also Chief of the Land Department
of the company. is probably as well post
I ed as any man in Florida as To the capa,
bilities and the productiveness Of our soil.
I For several wears he has taken a lively
interest in olive culture. his attention
having been attracted to the subject by
a visit to st. Simon's Island. near Bruins
wick. Ga. where is located "A successful
and profitable grove. Knowing these
facts Palatka NEWS reporter catching
the Major i'm his office. made some in
quiries upon the subject.
Ma ior. what is the outlook for olive
culture in Florida 2" asked the reporter
Very promising. indeed. A number
of intelligent fruit growers have become
interested in the subject, and the exper-
iment is sure To have "A fair trial"
What induced you To give such par
ticular attention To this tree
Several years ago l visited an olive
near Brunswick. Learning that the
trees produced greater profit than the
two hundred acre farm surrounding and
the climate and soil of the Island being
very similar To that We have i'm Florida.
| Thought the tree would flourish here AS
well as in Greece and Italy or AT least as
successfully as il is grown in Cali
fornia.
The impression prevails. in the minds
of post people, that it requires from fif-
teen to twenty Years To realize profit
from the trees. That is true so far as
the trees common To the Southern States
are concerned. for they grow slowly and
To large size before they even bloom.
The tree best suited tn Florida | think
is the Mission. introduced into Califor-
mia many years ago by the Catholic
priests. 1t is quick grower. requires
but little care. and is very profitable.
Suppose "A grower should put ont n
grove of olives. how long would he have
to wait for protit.'
Il have a letter here from Frank A.
Kimball. Of National City. in San
Diego county. California. "A gentleman
who has had large experience in olive
culture. He SAYS that in three years
grove of Mission trees should begin Ia
pay; the fourth year profit can be
realized, and from trees six wears old he
says he has realized profit of SEQ 10 the
tree. You see his experience explodes
the impression that il takes the
tree long time To bear. ] am firmly
convinced that the olive will do well.
or better i'm Florida. as our light sandy
soil is well adapted for the tree. And.
Judging from Mr. Kimbalrs experience,
olive culture il more profitable and as
sure as orange growing.
But how are the trees now doing in
Florida:''
MY own trees which planted out at
Lake Harris about four or five years ago
are doing splendidly. They are of the
old variety. and are now blooming.
Judge King has a tree at Gainesville that
has also blossoms. ! know of no trees of
the Mission variety, which is a much
more rapid grower, and cannot say
positively what that tree will do. have
ordered four hundre.i of the young trees
from California, and will put them out
in grove Immediately on their arrival.
and will give them fair test. They
will surely pay good profit in six years.
whereas the old variety Of trees will re-
quire a much longer time to bring in a
paying crop"
.'On the margin of this letter | see
grapes are mentioned. Are you going
to put out a vineyard alsog' asked the
reporter.
Yes have ordered four of the best
varieties of the California grapes. and
shall put them out as an experiment. /
believe Florida can produce as good
grapes as California or any other coun-
try, when once we get the proper va
riety, suited to the soil and climate
This grape industry is going Ia surprise
you in a few years by its proportions.
Even now the pioneers i'm the business
are reaping a rich harvest of profits
shall give the California grapes a
thorough trial. and il successful will
give the results TO all who are inter
ested in such matters.